GTA4 vs. MADD

I know… I know… That’s a lot of letters.  What does it all mean?  Let’s break it down.  The gist of the title of this post is Grand Theft Auto 4 vs. Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  In case you don’t know what either of these are, let me enlighten you.

(Yes, I know Wikipedia isn’t a great source, but I’m going to use it anyway to get my point across!)

From Wikipedia: 

Grand Theft Auto IV is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North … released worldwide on 29 April 2008.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, is a single-issue non-profit anti-drunk driving organization in the United States.

Now that you are familiar, let’s bring you up to date on what’s going on.  Rockstar Games released their game last week and according to an article I read on MSNBC.com, it’s expected to sell $400 million in the first week. (Article)  The problem that M.A.D.D. has with it involves a scene where a character can go into a bar, drink (and get drunk), and then get behind the wheel of a car.

I could understand that if the game played the same if your character was sober or drunk, but the game takes the situation seriously by making the game harder to play while your character is intoxicated.  The camera movement is jumpy and out of focus.  By doing this, Rockstar allows gamers to see that it isn’t all fun and games when you’re drunk behind the wheel.

In a statement, Rockstar Games said…

We have a great deal of respect for MADD’s mission, but we believe the mature audience for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game’s content.

I have to agree with that.  Here’s why… The game is already rated with a MATURE rating and that is sufficient for this game.  In the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) rating system, the next level would be ADULTS-ONLY and that doesn’t seem to fit the game.  That’s where MADD wants this game to be rated.  From the ESRB, here’s the definitions of the ratings…

MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

The MATURE rating is for age 17 and up while the ADULTS-ONLY rating is for 18 and up.  I really don’t think that one year is going to make that much of a difference.  You also have to look at the definitions above.  Drunk driving, albeit not good, is not a “prolonged scene of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.”  For that reason, it wouldn’t fall under the umbrella of ADULTS-ONLY.

Here are my final thoughts… I enjoy playing Super Mario Brothers but you don’t see me jumping on every turtle I see or throwing fireballs at things or breaking breaks around the neighborhood.  I also enjoy playing The Legend of Zelda but you don’t see me grabbing a sword and killing things with it.  If I enjoyed playing Grand Theft Auto, I might enjoy driving drunk in the game, but it’s not something I am willing to do in real life.  Just because it’s in a video game doesn’t mean that kids are going to imitate it… especially since the game is rated so that it is only for people who are 17 years old or older.

That’s just my 2 cents.  What are your thoughts?  Share them in the comment section!